For you that read the title and thought this post was something else... you need to move on - hahaha!
So, I will try my best to make this Blog entry short!
TUCSON - Casino Camping.
On Feb. 11th we made it into Tucson and stayed at Desert Diamond Casino. There were a few other rigs parked there with us. You may know we go to these not so much to gamble (because we don't) but to park for free. Most casino's let RVers park in their lots in designated areas and it sure helps the travel budget!
Valentines Day.
We went out for a nice dinner in Tucson. The sunsets were fantastic. You can not beat the sunsets in Arizona!
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| If you look close you can see it is -30 degrees here too! |
After a couple of nights there Barb found another casino nearby called Casino Del Sol, so we moved. I would rate this new casino as probably the nicest we have ever camped at. It is a typical casino on a Indian Reservation but it is done to the 5's, I am impressed!
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| Packed Parking Lot Camping! |
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| These photos don't do it justice as to the number of RVs here! |
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| From almost every state & province! |
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| A local Band I made friends with! Great music! |
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| I love old Bus Coaches! |
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| They just come and then they go. |
I was told at one point they counted 81 RV's in the parking lot and I would venture to guess there were a good 100 at times or more when we were there! It was packed like an Arizona RV Resort with RV's from all over, there was even one group of RVs that belong to a club having their annual meet there!
No doubt the casinos know that if they allow RV's to live there for free they will also attract some of their money! We met one couple from BC (and there were others) that had been camped there for 7 weeks!
It was quite the sight to see all those RV's, big, small and everything in between all parked in the parking lot. Some stayed a night or two like us and others were really camping out with their slides open and jacks down. Yes we had our slides opened and jacks down too, whoo hoo!
One day we walked inside like we owned the joint and went right to the pool area. This place has a hotel like many have and is at least a 4 Star location so we couldn't resist. No one said anything to us and we enjoyed a relaxing couple of hours by the pool. A nice change!
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| Barb is enjoying the swimming pool! |
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| Nice place and hardly anyone here at the pool. |
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| Cabana's anyone? |
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| It's good to be back in the warm Arizona sun. |
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| Jim doing what else, working online?? |
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| A very nice resort with lots of class amenities. |
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| If you're in a RV and need a place to stay keep Casino Del Sol in mind! |
GET PAID TO CAMP!
We heard a tip back at a casino in southern Florida on how to get paid for camping at a casino so we tried that too!
All you have to do is sign up for a Free Players Club card. In this case they gave each of us a Free Buffet and a $10.00 card to gamble with. If we were smart we would have just played the $10.00 for a penny game and cashed out the rest but like they in the business know, we spent it! My only negative about this casino and many others like it, is the smoke. On reserves they allow smoking most anywhere and it was giving me a headache. There were some areas where is was more manageable but they do need to get better air systems in these places. The buffet was pretty good though and it was free - Thank you Casino Del Sol!
CASA GRANDE, ARIZONA
After another casino night we decided to move on up to Casa Grande (see map). We had never stayed here before and we quite like the area.
It's a smaller city and the place we stayed called Casa Grande RV Park was priced right. It even has free WiFi that works which is a hard thing to find in a RV park! Now we don't have to worry about running out of Gigs on our mobile Internet!
We are booked in here for a week until next Friday morning (Feb 21st).
Yesterday I started to get some work done on the RV. It needed a real good cleaning on the outside after travelling through all that weather from back east. I am glad I brought my pressure washer as I hadn't washed it since Fort Myers, Florida, now she is starting to shine again!
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| The Bounder Buddy is getting a bath! |
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| The "Man Cave" is where I store the "Blue" things! You can never have too much storage in a RV, I love having a basement! |
Casa Grande is located just south of Phoenix.
They say 48 miles and I'm guessing that's to the center of Phoenix which is not too bad. So not as close as I would like but it is quiet and seems like a nice well cared for town. I think we may come back here some day, affordable, clean and quiet!
NASCAR SEASON!
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| My Favorite Time of Year! **** NASCAR Time! |
As you may know I am a NASCAR fanatic and have been all my life having raced and worked in the industry for some 30 odd years. The season begins mid February at Daytona, Florida. Phoenix is the second stop in the schedule. I will be following Daytona's events very closely.
Last year I worked for a NASCAR race team that competed in the USA. The driver is a young (17 year old) up and comer from Calgary, Canada. I have resigned from that position and Cameron has now moved over to the NASCAR K&N Pro East Series. From what I saw in yesterday's race he will do very well this season. I am hoping to see him as a NASCAR Champion soon!
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| Cameron Hayley of Calgary Qualifies on the Pole for the season opener at New Smyrna, Florida! He finished .083 of a second behind the winner - Side by Side! |
Go Team Canada!
It broke my heart that we couldn't stay for the seven nights of NASCAR Stock Car action in Florida. But it would have made it too hard to make it to Phoenix in time. We spent 11 days at Speed-Week in Daytona last year while Jim worked for the team and will be thankful for that!
At the races in Phoenix we have friends coming out to the track with us. That we know of so far Jim's longest & oldest buddy, Fred is coming out from Huntington Beach, California. Another couple we are good friends with from Corona, California are bringing their new 5th wheel and camping with us at the track too.
After we are done with the NASCAR week in Phoenix we will move out of the track on March 3rd and likely stay in the Phoenix area for a bit. We don't know how long yet or where - part of the continuing adventure!
We have several neighbours and other friends down here that we hope to get a visit in with while in Phoenix. The first visit is a couple who used to live up in Cochrane and live down here now. Debbie and Mike are coming over tonight!
I can't help but to post this as we think of the alternative; Wintering back at home...
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As we will be so busy this next week or two I may not get to posting much. Rest assured we will be back with more news when we can!
Until then - MAKE it a GREAT DAY!
Yes, you are finally getting some good weather! Wish we were there with the two of you but we can't complain about our weather here in the Keys. We took a long bike ride then did a paddle on the Gulf of Mexico later today...lovely! We just got a new kayak shipped to us after a seam split in our kayak that we used in Cedar Keys. It was still under warranty so no expense to us and this new model is sleeker and faster.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow is the Daytona 500, as you know, and everyone here in the park is gearing up. Enjoy the race and give that lovely wife of yours a hug from us!
Howdy! Thanks for touching base! Glad you got a new ship ok and didn't sink! Sounds like you are having fun! We just set up our new camp at the race track in Phoenix. Here for a week till after the NASCAR race and pull out Monday. Likely hang around Phoenix for a week or two and then hit the west coast around Pismo Beach, Ca. Stay in touch, safe travels to you and stay in touch! :)
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